musical notes: "Veronica" by Elvis Costello

This is a bit old, but it's a touching song about a grandmotherly figure important to the singer who is suffering from Alzheimer's or some form of dementia. My own octogenarian 고모부 uncle, a World War II veteran who fought on the US side at Iwo Jima, is in the final stages of Alzheimer's and my septuagenarian aunt is an emotional, financial, and physical wreck. It's utterly heartbreaking. And no matter how many times I listen to this song, it always gets me at least a little.

musical notes: "Viva La Vida" by Coldplay

I always liked this song. In fact, back in 2008 I wrote a whole silly post on it and what it might mean (hint: it's Dubya). Cool video, too.

musical notes: "Seven-Nation Army" by White Stripes

I think these people broke up. Never was sure if they were husband and wife or brother and sister. And how cool is it that there's a Jack White and a Jack Black.

Musical notes: "Lemon Tree" by 박혜경

This is something I also plan to make a regular feature. I am going to feature, via YouTube or some other embeddable service, various Korean songs and artists. Things that sound nice, things people recommend, things that pop into my head.

Where you, dear reader, come in to my plan is that I would love to receive suggestions. I'm open to all kinds of genres, time periods, artists, etc. In fact, I'd be happy to put up stuff from Japan, Taiwan, the US, etc. So email me suggestions (or leave them in the comments section). 

I'm going to start with "Lemon Tree" by 박혜경 (Park Hyegyŏng or Hyegyeong or Hyekyung or...), which I found by... well, I'm not sure how I found it. I like this song because the original, by Fool's Garden, reminds me of happy times with my ex-fiancée (if you've heard the original, I know that sounds a bit odd, but it was a favorite song of hers).



Ms Park's cover is a completely different direction from the last bit of music I put up on my blog, "Jump Around" by House of Pain, nice Irish fellows from a pleasant neighborhood in Boston.

"Jump Around" by House of Pain

Since this song is stuck in my head, I thought it only fair I inflict the same punishment on you.

Actually, I like this song, despite the Irish gangsta wannabe posing. I once had so much hope for White hip-hop. What happened?



Actually, I kinda like how these guys wear their Irishness on their sleeve. I see nothing wrong with that kind of thing as long as (a) you're still an American/Canadian/Brit/Mexican/etc first and (b) it doesn't lead you to committing acts of violence or hate crimes against someone else.